James walked



. l @uitrit tsisstentffirr.

JAMES WALKER., or o1 NoINNA'r I, 0 H10.

Leers man; No. 63,121, daad March 19, 1867.

'IMPRovED .BoTlJAon4 To WHOM .IT MAY oo'NoEnN-e Be it known that I, JAMES WALKER, 0f- Ciu-cinnati, in the county of Hamilton, and State of Ohio, have.;

invented a new and useful Boot-Jack;l ndrI hereby deolare the following to be a full, clear,. and exact description thereof, reference vbeing had to the accompanying drawings, making 4a part of this specification.

I My invention is ,an improvement in devices for vpulling off boots from the feetwith'eut touching them with the hand or other foot; and consists a device b-y which the harder the pull to drawfthe foot through the ,instepof the'boot, the tighter the heel is clasped by the instrument, rendering the vexii'tious slipping of a wet' boot from the clutch of the jack nearly impossible, and having the advantage, besid-caoi'v adapting itself` to 'any size-of boot-heel, and with less injury to the boot thanl occurs with the use of the common jack.

Figui-e1 is a perspective view of a boot-jack embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a horizontal see'tion,slhowing the working parts.

Figure 3 is a perpendicular longitudinal section nearly in the cent-re'linel y A is the-body of 4the jack, made of cast iron; B, a plate of the same metal, .fastened to the under side by three screws, 'or otherwise, and having cast on it the legs C C.' D D are curved plates of the, same metal, sliding between A. and B, forming at one endthejaws of the jack, and havingnear the other Aend curved slots, E E', which allow' them to slip backward and forward upon two pins, e e', cast uponA The peculiar shape of 'the plates D D and the slots E E', causes a curvilinear motion of the plates, so that lwhen pushed forward the jaws are opened-a'parnand the'inner ends ldrawn together. Th'ey are easily pushed 'forward by the operator striking the clutch with his toe, when the jaws or horns are openedapart, and the inner ends drawn'together. The heel of the boot being inserted, thelpressure pushes thetnlmck', and the'action of the slots closes'the-jaws tighter together as they are retracted, so thatv the stronger the pressure and pull backwards, the-tighter the clutch of the jaws. A lug, d, cast upon one ofthe plates D D', 'and'it'ting intoagainin the other plate, assists to r'etain said plates in their relative position. v Thejaws'being wide-enough when opened to receive the heel of a thick boot, and becoming narrower` as retracted, will take hold of that 'of a thin one, thus obviating the inconvenience often experiencedio'i` a boot-jack that will not holdthe bootwith sufficient tightness to enable, the foot to be drawn out, particularly ii; the boot be wet. I

I claim herein as new, and of inyinvention- E g A self-adjusting boot-jack, composed of thetwojaws D D', with thecurvilinear slots EE', sliding between two plates, A and'B, so as to 'be closed by the 4action'of withdrawing the'foot from the boot, substantially as set forth. l k

-In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

JAMES WALKER. Witnesses: Y

GEO, H. KNIGHT, ,SAMUEL KN1GHT. 

